Dokeshi March: Chapter 43 (Patreon)

Chapter 43

Shortly after the mob ran off Cuddles, the chains surrounding Suki and Grant started acting like normal loops of metal instead of living constrictor snakes.  They were able to work themselves free before the last few members of the mob disappeared around a corner in the distance.

“Well, that was embarrassing.”  Suki was hunched over, massaging the muscles in her legs.  “We were almost captured by that ridiculous excuse of a warrior.”

“I don’t know if I would call him all that ridiculous.”  Grant sheathed his sword after inspecting the edge of the blade for chips.  “Scary, maybe.  I can see how he was able to defeat Dangerous Dade so easily.  Those chains are heavy.”

“Whatever.  Let’s just get out of here.”  Suki led the way, the two of them quickly losing themselves amongst the alleys and streets of the city.

This region of the District was in much better shape than the outside portion, but if you looked close enough you could see the wear starting to show.  Most businesses that lined the streets had a layer of dust on the wares in their windows, meaning no one was buying from them.  The front of all the houses still looked good, but the sides and backs of the homes hadn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in a long time.  Some even had sagging rooflines, or collapsing stables hidden behind the false front of success.

“It looks like the entire District has fallen on hard times.”  Suki wiped the grime off a window to inspect the moneychanger office they had stopped in front of, several hours after their fight with Cuddles.  “I don’t think anyone has been here for weeks.  There is a thick layer of dust over everything inside.”

“Will it work as a hiding place until morning?”  Grant was exhausted.  He must not have fully recovered from the surgery.  “I could use a few hours rest before we move on.”

“We can try the back.  This door is too thick for us to break in, and I don’t want to shatter a window.”  Grant gave her a nod, and Suki led the way through the narrow alley that led to the back.  “Jackpot.  This must be the employee entrance.  They didn’t bother to make this one as tough.”  Suki’s gauntlets flickered into place, and she ripped the whole doorknob off with one sharp tug.

<Wow.  Whatever you do, don’t make her mad after you are married.>

“Don’t worry Sarge, I wasn’t planning on it.”  Grant led the way inside the building, looking over the bare walls and empty cubicles.  “I think we’re clear.”

“Let’s try to find a place to sleep upstairs.  That way, anyone just walking by on the streets won’t even notice us.”  Suki peered up the stairs, trying to pierce the darkness with her eyes.  “If someone was up there, they would have heard us by now.”

The two of them made their way up the staircase.  Grant was thankful that he didn’t have any balance problems, because the stairs didn’t have a handrail.  Finding a room without a window on the outside was also impossible, so they were forced to eat the granola bars in Suki’s pack.

“You go ahead and get some sleep.”  Grant took off his pack and moved it out of the way.  “I have some training to do before I can rest.”

Suki didn’t bother arguing, and curled up to go to sleep.  Grant moved back into the hallway to perform the exercises Sarge wanted him to do earlier.  There were no problems, and he was able to get them done quickly.  Except for the run.  Sarge was nice enough to count the fight with Cuddles as his cardio.

After two hours, Grant woke Suki and took her place on the floor.  She stood guard until the sun started to lighten the horizon.  He woke up quickly, and she put a finger over his lips before he could say anything.  Motioning to the dirty window, Suki showed Grant what had forced her to wake him early.

<That is a whole lot of Wielders.>  A group of seven warriors with very high-quality weapons were slowly making their way down the street.  <Go look out of the windows out back.>  Grant hurried to comply, and was surprised to see a group of four warriors searching nooks and crannies in the back of the buildings.  <Just what I thought.  This is a search party, and I have a feeling I know who they are searching for.>

“Why would all these Wielders be searching for us?  We didn’t do anything to them.”  Grant made sure to whisper, and crouched to stay below the edge of the window.  “And where did they even come from?”

<This is a much nicer area, so they probably live around here.>  Sarge paused to think for a moment.  <As for why they are searching for you?  My guess would be debt.  They probably owe money, and the reward offered for your capture would go a long way toward balancing their accounts.>

“Psst!  We need to get in front of them, before they see the broken door.”  Suki motioned for Grant to follow, and they snuck out the broken door in a crouch.  The narrow alley was still in shadow, so they were able to travel to the opposite end without being seen.  “There is more over here.  We will need to stay low, and hurry.”

The two of them weaved their way through the streets once more, doing their best to get closer to the region they knew Dokeshi March lived in.  They only had one battle the rest of the day, and it was with a single giant rat they surprised as they cut through a basement to avoid another search party.

As night started to return, Suki and Grant were forced to hunker down in a shack behind an empty city administration building.  The building had seen better days, but the shack was in surprisingly good shape.  The caretaker that stored his tools inside must have taken some pride in his workplace, because when it started raining, they stayed miraculously dry.

“This hasn’t been fun.  Like, at all.”  Suki was massaging her legs, which were sore from running around in a crouch all day.  “I’m the scion of a Noble House, not some criminal to be hunted like an animal!”

“It isn’t all that bad.”  Grant was soaking a few of the health bars in a pot of water.  His plan was to try and make some kind of oatmeal, but the bars didn’t seem to be willing to cooperate.  “At least, this way, we can see them coming.  If they were sneakier about it, we would have never seen them coming.”

<This was bound to happen at some point.  In a society obsessed with money and gambling, owing money must be a serious issue for the established houses.  They see catching you as a chance to dig themselves out from under a mountain of debt.>

“Sarge says they are chasing us because they want to get out of debt.”  Grant tried stirring the health bars.  They still refused to lose their shape.  “The Dokeshi must have put out one heck of a reward for us.”

“It is quite a large reward; the canceling of debt for nine generations of your House if you are captured, or five generations if you are killed.   But, not every House is obsessed with Time.”  The voice came from right outside the door of the shack, causing the two of them to scramble to their feet.  Suki looked out the window and quietly cursed to herself before turning to Grant and shaking her head.  “Why don’t the two of you come outside, and we can talk about it?”

“Why would we do that?”  Suki motioned for Grant to stop talking, but he ignored her.  “What would we even talk about?”

“I think we should play a game.”  Surprised at the answer, Grant cracked the door open to see who he was dealing with.  He gulped, seeing more than twenty people standing outside.  Another group was setting up an awning in the rain, in order to keep the card table underneath it dry.  All of them carried a polearm that was as long as a spear, but instead of a sharp point it ended in a long ‘u’ shape.  Since they were all using the same weapon, it meant they were Vassals.  And their leader was a wielder.  A powerful one, to have so many Vassals.

<That is called a Sasumata.  A weapon designed to capture, instead of kill.>  Grant nodded, clearly seeing how it would be difficult to fight against such a weapon.  <Considering the weapon type, I would say he must be from the bounty hunter House.  House Friday.>

“As you can see, we have you surrounded.  Why don’t we try and settle this without violence?”  The man from House Friday motioned to the table.  “We play until one of us runs out of chips, or forfeits.  If I win, you come quietly, without a fuss.  You will be escorted to the nearest prison, where you will await the judgement of Dokeshi March.”

“And if I win?”  Grant was gripping his Uchigatan hard enough that his joints creaked.  Getting thrown in prison would be a death sentence.  “I just go free and have to deal with the next Wielder hunting us?”

“No, that wouldn’t be very sporting.”  The man flicked his wrist, and two large disks appeared.  “I have two passes to the Dokeshi’s End-of-Month Tournament.  If you win, I will guide you to his personal casino, and ensure you are enrolled in the semi-finals.”

“Grant, I don’t like this.  Let me play him instead.”  Suki was already trying to move around him, pushing Grant to the side.  “There is no way you could beat a Noble in a game of cards.”

“No, good lady.  This deal is for the young man only.”  He motioned for his Vassals to back up.  “You won’t get a better offer.”

“Fine.”  Grant passed his pack over to Suki.  “I’ll do it.  But if I catch you cheating, all bets are off.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  The man smiled, and poured two glasses of a dark red wine.  “Let us begin, shall we?”

“Sure.  I always wanted to play a card game with my life on the line.  I guess I can die happy now, after this is over.”  Grant sighed as he sat in the chair.  This was going to suck.